Eyes

There’s a new superheroine in town (THIS girl) thanks to this mascara’s crazy insane curl hold. I’ve been wearing It Cosmetics Superhero Mascara for the better part of the past two months because the curl hold is simply out of this world, and even though the formula isn’t technically waterproof, it might as well be in at least one way because the hold is just as good as any waterproof mascara I’ve tried.

I wore it to coffee with a girlfriend a couple weeks ago (hey, Fern!) and cried about, oh…five times during the conversation. (It was one of those emo visits. You know how it goes sometimes.) When I looked in a mirror afterward, I expected to see something completely different, but this mascara hadn’t budged or smudged at all.

In Hawaii I also wore it to the pool and beach a few times, and it lasted surprisingly well there, too, despite it not being classified as waterproof, which is something I’ve been trying to avoid lately, because I’m convinced that wearing full-on waterproof makes my lashes fall out more easily.

That’s two layers of Superhero on the lashes on the left eye (my right) and bare lashes on the eye on the right.

Here’s where things get a little complicated, though: To get this mascara to do the wonderful things it can do, you’ll have to work with it a while, because the already-thick-to-start formula thickens up even more over time, and once it has, you won’t be able to just swipe two coats on your lashes and ride off into the sunset with Keanu Reeves.

Now, after having used mine for about two months, whenever I draw the wand out of the tube, the brush loads up with an obscene amount of mascara. Like, I’m not kidding, enough mascara to coat five sets of lashes!

So you gotta take the time to remove the excess if you want to unlock this mascara’s riches. I’ll either run the brush across a paper towel, or I’ll unload the excess on the edge of the tube. If you don’t, brace yourself for a clumpy mess.

Wait — should that be in the past tense? Because UD phased out the O.G. Naked (RIP). They replaced it with Naked Reloaded, which’ll be out in less than week!

Overview

What is it? Naked Reloaded replaces the now-defunct Naked Palette. It has 12 powder eyeshadows, and four of the pans — satiny beige Bribe, shimmery golden Barely Baked, matte orange-brown Boundaries and matte peachy beige Blur — contain more product than the others. Those are the shades UD thinks you’ll use the most.

How much is it? I haven’t confirmed this yet, but I’m guessing it’ll be $54, which is how much UD charges for the other Naked Palettes in the permanent collection. It’s $44.

Who’s it for? According to UD, errrrrbody, because the colors and textures are supposed to work for every age, gender and skin tone.

When can you get it? February 18th on the UD website and at Urban Decay stores, March 4th on the Sephora and Ulta websites, and March 7th at Sephora and Ulta stores.

How is it different than the original Naked? Reloaded has more mid-toned warm browns and fewer cooler, darker shades like grays and taupes. It also doesn’t have a dual-ended liner or a brush, and then there are the four larger pans.

Is it like any of the other Naked palettes? Yup, I think so. Naked Reloaded is like a warmer, powered-up Naked on the Run (without the cheek and lip products), with lots of mid-toned colors to make it versatile. The color temps are warm like Naked Heat, but nowhere near as red.

What about the eyeshadow formula? It’s what I’ve come to expect from UD eyeshadows. They’re soft and silky with fluffy powder particles that like to fly when I touch one of the pans with a brush. Based on a prelim arm swatch, most of them feel smooth, except for Angel Fire, which has huskier glitter than the other shimmers, so it’s on the chunky side.

What about that orange? MAN, I’m so over UD’s obsession with orange in their eye palettes… I like orange eyeshadow well enough, but it keeps popping up everywhere, and I’d just assume see something else in place of it.

I’m an NC42 in MAC.Please note the Taylor Swift-ian references…In paw for scale…

Oh, and pardon me for going all X-Files for a moment, but IT’S CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME! Here’s why I think Reputation and End Game, two of the colors, sound like Taylor Swift song references to me: Because I think someone at UD is secretly weighing in on the Taylor Swift vs. Kim/Kanye feud that hit a couple years ago… Or maybe I’m writing too much into it, LOL!

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

OK, so I like to think that I’m NOT ruled by my stomach, buuuut the fact that the eyeshadow palette I rocked yesterday is called Berries & Cream may or may not have something to do with why I like wearing it. 😁

Berries & Cream is from Dominique Cosmetics, a new-to-me indie makeup line by YouTuber Christen Dominique. Christen has just over four million subscribers, so she’s kinda Internet famous (to put it mildly).

Dominique Cosmetics has products spread out among three mini sub-collections, and each of the eyeshadow palettes in them are named after something delicious. There’s Berries & Cream, Latte and Lemonade).

YUM! A girl after my own food-lovin’ tummy heart.

I wore the Berries & Cream palette to lunch yesterday with a friend, who asked, “That, on your eyes? Are you wearing purple or burgundy?”

By the way, she asked me this after we’d been talking for an hour, LOL!

I was like, “Girl, I’m not sure! I was hoping it would distract you from the white hairs sticking up every which way!”

Playing with finish and texture

Like cat eyes and red lips, monochromatic makeup is a classic theme that transcends trends. I remember having a convo with a makeup artist once who said that monochromatic looks (where you wear matching eyeshadow, blush and lipstick) are one of the easiest ways to do elegant makeup, and I agree 100%. I don’t do it nearly enough, though.

That will be easy to rectify with the help of these sub-collections.

See Sheer

Subtle variations in the colors, along with different textures and finishes, keeps each of these sets from hitting a monotone note. Like, if I’m going to wear a matte beige lipstick like Velvet Teddy, I need to have at least a little shimmer on my eyes to contrast with my lips, and that’s the case with this collection. Each of the items riffs on its namesake lipstick color without being identical.